The present invention relates to document copying mechanisms, and to document handling mechanisms associated with document copying mechanisms, such as document feeding and copy document stacking mechanisms. More particularly, the present invention is specifically related to an apparatus comprised of a plurality of mechanisms or subassemblies for feeding and copying groups of two or more documents from a stack of documents and for sorting and stacking the resulting copies.
Use of automatic feeding and copying devices has been known for many years. Typically, documents of letter size 81/2 by 11 inches, or legal size, 81/2 by 13 inches, are most frequently copied and copying machines have been developed to specifically handle documents of this size. In many situations, however, documents of a smaller size must be processed. One such type of document is the bank check which is approximately 23/4 by 6 inches. Banks, and those businesses performing services for banks, frequently desire to make photocopies of checks that are processed by the bank. Since checks are considerably smaller than the 81/2 by 11 format for which most copies are designed, use of such copiers to make photocopies of checks is inefficient and/or wasteful.
It would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for producing photocopies of small documents, such as checks, in an efficient and non-wasteful manner. Preferably, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for making a photocopy of two or more checks in a single photographic exposure to reduce the number of photographic operations required to handle a large number of such small documents.
Further, it would be beneficial to provide means for producing photocopies of small documents on a plurality of parallel, continuous strips of paper and providing a method and apparatus for severing the strips of paper rapidly, yet accurately.
It would be advantageous if, when handling photocopies produced on two or more parallel strips of paper, the individual severed photocopies from all of the strips could be received and assembled in a single stack--rapidly, automatically, and in a consistent sequential order.
When feeding documents into a copier, it would also be helpful to provide a method and apparatus for detecting the presence of two or more overlapped documents before they entered the copy machine. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a means of automatically detecting such overlapping documents and shutting down the operation without any further processing of the overlapping documents. It would also be advantageous to provide a method and automatic apparatus for quickly and efficiently separating the overlapping documents and permitting them to be again fed one at a time into the copier.